Semi-weekly south Kentuckian., 1887-05-10
CHAPTER ".

wind swayed English elms and cawing
rocks and the familiar volumes on th
shelves, and in their place there rises visicu
of the great calm ocean cleaning in shadpi
silver lights beneath the beams Of the fun
African moon. A gentle breeze fills the huge
sail of our dhow and drags us through thu
water that ripples musically against our
sides. Most Of the men are sleeping forward,
for it is near mi1night, but a stout, swarthy
Arab, Mahomed by name, stands at the
tiller, lazily steering by the stars Three
miles or more to our starboard Is low, dim
line. 1t is the eastern shore of Central Al
rica, We are running to the southward, be-
fore the northeast monsoon, between tho
mainland and the reef that for hundreds snf
miles fring6s that periors coast The night
Is quiet, SC quiet that a whisper can be heard
fore and aft the dhow; SO quiet that faint
booming sound rolls across the water to us
from tie distant land.
The Arab at the tiiler holds up his hand
and says one word: "Simbal" Qion).
We all sit up and listen. Then it comes
aggin, n slow, majestic sound that thrills us
to the marrow.
"To-morrow, by 10 O'CLOCK" say, ave
Z ought, II the captain is not out in his reckon
ing, which l think very probable, to make
this mysterious rock with a mans head and
begin our shooting"
aAnd begin our search for the ruined city
and the Fire of Life,p corrected Leo taking
his pipe from his mouth and laughing a
little.
aNonsenselnI answered. "You were airing
your Arabic with that man at the tiller this
afternoon. What did he tell youl He has
been trading slave trading, probably up and
down these ATTITUDES for half of his iniquitous
life, and once landed on this very mani rock.
Did he ever hear anything Of the ruined city
or the cavesr
@No," answered Leo ale says that the
country is all swamp behind, and full Of
snakes. especially pythons, and game and
that no man lives there But then there is q
belt of swamp all along the east African
coast, so that does not go for much"
"Yes," said, ait does--it goes for malaria
You sec what sort of an opinion these gentry
have of the country. Not one Of them will
go with us They think that we are mad,
and upon my word l believe that they ara
right If ever we see old England again
shall be astonished. However, ii does not
greatly matter to me, ct my age, but / am
anxious for You, Leo and Job. It's Tom
Fools business, my boy.'
"All right Uncle Horace. So far as am
concerned, Gm willing to take my chance.
Lookl What is that cloudf and he pointed
to q dark blotch upon the starry sky, some
miles astern of us.n
"Go and ask the man at the tiller," said.
He rose and stretched his long arms, and
went. Presently he returned.
"He says 1t is a squall, but it will pass far
on one side of us.p
Just then Job came up, looking very stout
and English in his shooting suit of brown
flannel, and with a sort of perplexed appear
ance upon his honest round face that had been
very common with him since he got into
these strange waters.
"Please, sir,n he said, touching his sun hat,
which was stuck on the hack of his head in a
somewhat ludicrous fashion, "as we have got
all those guns and things in the whaleboat
astein, to say nothing Of the provisions in tho
lockers, think it would be best if l got down
and slept in her. don't like the looks
here he dropped his voice to a portentous
whisper-''of these black gentry; they have
such wonderful thievish way about them.
Surprising, now, that some Of them were to
slip into the boat at night and cut the cable,
and make Off with herr 1t would be pretty
60, that would.n
The whaleboat may explain, was one
that we had had built at Dundee, in the
north Of England, and brought with us, as
we knew that this coast was network Of
creeks, and that we might require something
to navigate them with. She was beautiful
boat, thirty feet in length, with centerboard
for sailing, copper-bottomed TO keep the worm
out of her, and full of water tight compart-
ments The captain of the dhow had told us
that when we reached the rock, which he
knew well, and which appeared to be identi-
cal with the one described upon the sherd and
by Leo's father, he would not probably be
able TO run up to ii on account of the shadows
and breakers, SO we had employed three
hours that very morning, while we were
totally becalmed, the wind having dropped
at sunrise, In transferring most of our goods
and chattels to the whaleboat, placing tho
guns, ammunition and preserved provisions
IN the water tight lockers specially prepared
for them, so that when we did sight the
fabled rock we should have nothing to do but
step into the boat and run her ashore. An.
other reason that induced us to take this pre-
cautionary step wns that Arab captains are
apt to run past the point that they are max
ing, either from carelessness or owing to q
mistake in its identity. Now, rs sailors will
know, 1t Is quite impossible for a dhow which
Is only rugged to run before the monsoon to
beat back against 1t. Therefore we got our
boat ready to row for the rock at any mo-
ment.
"Well, Job,n l said, "perhaps It would be
rs well. There are lots of blankets there,
only be careful TO keep out Of the moon, or
it may turn your head or blind you"
"Lord, sirl / don't think it would much
matter il it did; it is that turned already
with the sight Of these blackamoors and thdr
filthy, thieving ways. They arc only fit for
muck, they arc; and they smell bad enough
for it already
Job, it will be perceived, was not attached
to the manners and customs Of our dark
skinned brothers.
Accordingly we hauled up the boat by the
tow rope till u vas right under the stern OF
the dhow, and Job bundled into her about as
gracefully as sack Of potatoes. Then wc
returned and sat down on the deck again,
and smoked and talked in little gusts and
jerks. The night was so lovely, and our
brains were so full Of suppressed excitement
of one sort and another, that we did not feel
inclined to turn in For nearly an hour we
sat thus, and then, 1 think, we both dozed Off.
At least have faint recollection of Leo
sleepily explaining that the head was not a
bad place to hit buffalo, If you could catch
him exactly between the horns, or sent your
bullet down his threat, or some nonsense Of
the sort.
Then remember no more, till suddenly-a
frightful roar Of wind, shrek OF terror
from the awakening crew and q whip-like
sting Of water in our faces. Some Of the men
ran to let 20 the halyards and lower the SAIL
but tiie panel js,iiiiiei and tiie yard would
not come down. l sprung to my feet and
hung on TO a rope. The sky aft was dark as
pitch, but the moon still shone brightly ahead
of us and lit up the blaclsness. Beneath its
sheen huge, white topped breaker, twenty
feet high or more. was rushing ON to us. 1t
was on the break--the moon shone on its
crest and tipped its foam with light On IL
rushed beneath the inky sky, driven by the
awful squall behind It, Suddenly in the
twinkling of an eye, saw the black shape of
the whaleboat cast high into the air on the
breaking wave. Then-a shock water, a
wild rush OF boiling foam and | was clinging
for my life to the shroud-ay, swept straight
out from it like a flag in gale.
We were popped.
The wave passed. 1t seemed TO me that
was under water for minutes-really IL was